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U.S. asks Iraq Kurds to postpone referendum

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The United States has asked Iraq's Kurds to postpone a referendum on the independence of their autonomous Kurdish region, planned for Sept. 25, the Kurdish presidency said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the request on Friday, during a phone call with the president of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani.

"On the issue of the postponement of the referendum, the President (Barzani) stated that the people of the Kurdistan Region would expect guarantees and alternatives for their future," said the statement issued by the Kurdish presidency after Tillerson's call, giving no further details on the Kurdish leader's reaction to the U.S. request.

The United States and other Western nations are concerned that the vote could turn into another regional flashpoint. Turkey, Iran and Syria, which together with Iraq have sizeable Kurdish populations, all oppose an independent Kurdistan.